Page 180 - The Bible On Leadership

166 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

and heard.’’ (Acts 4:20) They could not desert the cause they believed
in, regardless of the possible punishment. And miraculously, they were
released, since no one could decide what a fitting punishment was for
following a particular teacher, however seemingly misguided, if the re-
sult was beneficial.
Steve Case of America Online is often painted as the ‘‘golden boy’’
of telecommunications. But at several junctures, Case has been ‘‘de-
spised and rejected of men’’ for what seemed foolish and heretical ideas.
Already the head of one of the most successful technology companies
in America, Case risked it all in 1997, when he changed AOL’s pricing
from a usage basis to a uniform monthly charge for unlimited usage.
The response was immediate—and negative. At an industry panel,
Case was introduced as ‘‘the most hated man in America.’’ They played
a busy signal as he walked onstage, an obvious reference to the busy
signal many of AOL’s subscribers were encountering when they tried
to sign on to a network that was now severely overburdened. It seemed
like everybody in the United States was now signing on to AOL for
twenty-four hours a day, and Case’s infrastructure was not prepared to
handle it.
Case’s response showed great courage. He did not arrogantly write
off his critics, nor did he acquiesce and admit that he had followed
the wrong strategy. He started off humbly, acknowledging the technical
difficulties of implementing the strategy, and the inconvenience to the
subscribers. But he did not back down.
Case had the courage to stand up for his strategy and then take the
necessary actions to implement it. First, he beefed up AOL’s infrastruc-
ture. AOL then instructed people to sign off when there was no activity.
Thus, after the initial introduction, many people voluntarily stayed off
the system until it was equipped to meet the increased demand. Steve
Case’s decision to go to flat-fee unlimited usage is now seen as pro-
phetic by many of the critics who played the busy signal at the panel.
And when his company recently entered a mega-merger with Time
Warner, it increased his scope and influence even more.
Like Case’s decision to stick with flat-fee usage, Nestle has decided